CHARLOTTE — SMU and Syracuse have been sliding in the wrong direction, but one of them will pick up an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament victory when they meet Tuesday.
The first-round matchup might be too late for No. 11 seed SMU (19-12), which has fallen to the brink of the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Mustangs have dropped their last four games, falling 91-78 at Florida State on Saturday.
“Some of our veterans had a tough first half,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said.
That seems to be a theme for the Mustangs: If some of the upperclassmen aren’t clicking, problems tend to brew.
SMU guard Boopie Miller did provide a career-high 32 points, with 28 of those coming after halftime. He was held to 11 points in the regular-season meeting vs. Syracuse, but the veteran has averaged 19.4 points per game this season.
No. 14 seed Syracuse (15-16) closed the regular season with five consecutive losses. The Orange nipped SMU 79-78 at home on Feb. 14, which remains their last win.
The Orange are playing under embattled coach Adrian Autry, whose team is in danger of finishing with a losing record for the second season in a row, which last happened at Syracuse in the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons.
“This is college athletics. This is sports,” Autry said after Saturday’s 71-69 overtime home loss to Pitt. “I can only worry about today. I can’t get ahead. The speculation, that is part of it. The only thing I can do is focus on the team and try to get us ready to win games.”
Syracuse has won three games since the first half of January.
“Getting back to the standard is going to be a little more challenging than we all thought it would be,” Autry said.
Naithan George has led Syracuse in scoring in the past two games. He had 16 points in the first clash with SMU.
The Orange played Saturday without two of their top reserves — Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White Jr. — as they’re nursing injuries. They average 8.0 and 6.1 points per game, respectively.
Tuesday’s winner takes on sixth-seeded Louisville in Wednesday’s second round.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
